Asteroid named after UC San Diego professor

An asteroid located about 225 million miles from Earth has been named in honor of Y.C. Fung, an emeritus professor at UC San Diego who is often called the "father of biomechanics." The designation was made by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the body responsible for naming such objects as planets, stars and asteroids. IAU also is the organization that downgraded Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006.

It's not unusual for an asteroid (also known as a minor planet) to be named after a person. The honor usually goes to a scientist. But there also are asteroids named after such people as Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Johann Sebastian Bach and all four members of The Beatles.

The asteroid named after Fung is called 210434 Fungyuancheng and is located in our solar system's main asteroid belt.

Fung, 92, helped pioneer ways of combining engineering, biology and physics to diagnose and treat a wide spectrum of health problems, especially soft tissue injuries. His work also was critical in the creation of artificial skin. Fung, who is still on faculty of the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, was awarded the National Medal of Science for his achievements.